Grace Kennedy, age 91, was found bludgeoned to death in her bed in Bryan, Ohio on the evening of December 23, 2009. The case has turned up no suspects and the City of Bryan Police are waiting for someone to either “slip up” or offer information as part of a “plea bargain” for another crime. Outside help beyond the FBI has not been sought by the police. The family was told not to talk to any media immediately following the murder for fear of “compromising the case” as the police felt within a matter of weeks they would have it solved. The family complied and waited 12 months before doing their first media interview (attached above). It is now approaching 12 years since the murder with no noted progress being made. The police have not initiated contact with the family since the second year following her murder. Any communication has strictly been initiated by the family. The family wishes for the City of Bryan to actively solicit and accept outside help through any or all of the following channels or other known resources: Ohio Attorney General’s Cold Case Unit based at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), crime/TV shows and podcasts, the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, and reach out to teams of retired homicide detectives in the area that do such work.

The family is asking for signatures on this petition to let the City of Bryan Police Department know that Grace Kennedy’s life mattered to all of those residing within and around Williams County, Ohio, and to her family, friends and country. Grace volunteered over 15,000 hours to the local hospital and was a veteran of WWII, speaking frequently to local organizations about her time serving as a cryptographer. Waiting for someone to “slip up” or “plea bargain” is not an acceptable definition of an active case. The family is demanding action and a fresh set of eyes be allowed to review the details of the investigation. Further, they would like to personally review the case records to note any discrepancies in the on-the-scene report that may provide the smallest clue that may have been overlooked.

Grace was last seen alive on the evening of December 22, 2009 after being dropped off at her home following a church service. On the evening of December 23, Grace’s son, Bob (then residing in Orrville, Ohio) received a long-distance call from a close friend of Grace’s asking if she had traveled to Orrville, because she was not responding to repeated phone calls. The friend was calling from Grace’s driveway, where she drove, knocked on the door, and walked around the perimeter, but with no response.

When learning Grace had not traveled, she asked Bob for permission to call 9-1-1, phoned her husband to drive to the house, and placed the 9-1-1 call (logged as a wellness check). The City of Bryan Police responded on scene. Bob was once again phoned and asked for permission to break and enter the premises, because all doors were locked and the garage door secured. As the police entered the home (with the couple following), Bob remained on the phone. He was informed Grace was found deceased in her bed from a violent, brutal attack.

The BCI was called to come to the scene, and the police advised Bob not to make the 2.5-hour trip until morning, as there was currently nothing he could do. The following morning Bob and his wife, Kathy, traveled to Bryan, met with the police, and proceeded to the mortuary to identify Grace’s body once it was returned from the autopsy. The news of her murder was not released to the media until 6 days after she was found (following the funeral home visitation, the morning of her funeral). The family was advised not to discuss what would assuredly be ruled a “homicide” for fear of compromising the investigation. In the midst of all their tragic grief, they were only allowed to say she was found deceased in her bed.

During the several weeks following the investigation, the family members were ruled out as potential suspects. Following a delay in processing of evidence by the BCI, the family was told there was not enough DNA or other evidence to convict should a suspect be identified. Grace’s son and daughter-in-law, Bob and Kathy, met with the Chief of Police Jeffrey Arnold, the county coroner, and the county prosecutor in the early months following her death, requesting the officer responding to the scene be present at the meeting. At that time and all subsequent meetings with the police which followed, they were refused such. In the years immediately following, Police Chief Arnold refused interviews with WTOL-TV Investigative Reporter Jonathan Walsh and Shaun Hegarty of 13abc Action News. The current City of Bryan Chief of Police, Christopher Chapa, has also refused in-person interviews.